1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for a line card for processing Internet Protocol (IP) packet data in an IP-Base Station System (IP-BSS). More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for enabling duplication between line cards and duplication between physical links when IP packet data of a backbone network is transmitted through a physical link (that is, T1/E1/J1) in an IP-BSS.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a general Internet Protocol-Base Station System (IP-BSS), when IP packet data is intended to be processed, the data has to be transmitted to a suitable physical link by the use of one line card.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a line card of a conventional IP-BSS.
Referring to FIG. 1, a line card 110 includes a queue buffer 112 and a channel evaluator 114.
The queue buffer 112 of the line card 110 stores an IP packet received through a backbone network (for example, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM)/Ethernet) 100, and then transmits the IP packet by using link information provided from the channel evaluator 114.
The channel evaluator 114 evaluates physical link information regarding an available time slot for each channel.
Since the number of physical links connected to one line card is limited in the IP-BSS, there is a problem in the processing of IP packet data when the physical link is extended.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for extending a plurality of line cards in an Internet Protocol-Base Station System (IP-BSS).